Artists celebrate hand crafts at annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival
Photos: Katherine Mansfield
Keri Fosbrink, of Youghiogheny Yarns, crochets before a selection of her hand-dyed yarns at the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival. Fosbrink said meeting other artists and discussing works in progress is the highlight of the event.
Katherine Mansfield
Festival-goers get a peek into what yarn hand-dyed by Keri Fosbrink could be by browsing the owner of Youghiogheny Yarn无毛视频檚 selection of wool blends and handmade wares. Fosbrink enjoys connecting with customers and teaching classes at her studio in Connellsville.
Photos: Katherine Mansfield
Crochet superstar Toni Lipsey chats with fans while signing autographs at the Creative Arts Festival in Green Tree Aug. 25. Lipsey无毛视频檚 first book, The Tunisian Crochet Handbook, hit shelves last year, and the full-time artist teaches classes online.
Katherine Mansfield
Soap sacks crafted by S.A.C.K. founder Stacy Wiener and Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival attendees will be donated to Pittsburgh-area organizations, for distribution to those in need. Wiener said food stamps do not cover toiletries, a fact that inspired her to start her nonprofit in 2017.
Katherine Mansfield
Stacy Wiener, founder of S.A.C.K., knits soap sacks with volunteers at the Creative Arts Festival. Since the foundation无毛视频檚 inception in 2017, more than 250,000 handcrafted, soap-filled sacks have been donated globally to those in need.
Katherine Mansfield
Toni Lipsey chats with fans during a book signing at the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival.
Katherine Mansfield
Joyce Tsambarlis, of Whitehall, prepares yarn for use during the annual Creative Arts Festival last week. Tsambarlis represented Project Linus, which donates blankets to emergency services and children in need, alongside other volunteers at the event.
Katherine Mansfield
Gillian Noga, 7, explores the Yarns Bits and Bobs yarn truck during the annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival Thursday. Noga, of Elizabeth, attended the event with her 9-year-old sister, Gwyneth Noga, and their mother, Jennifer Noga.
Katherine Mansfield
Nadia Frock, left, and Shauna Barnes, both of Pittsburgh, browse wares at the Ursula无毛视频檚 Alcove booth during the annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival.
Katherine Mansfield
Linda Listing, who runs Ursula无毛视频檚 Alcove in Canonsburg, hand-dyes yarn using natural ingredients, like lemon balm and tarragon grown in her garden.
Katherine Mansfield
Linda Listing weaves while shoppers browse a selection of her hand-dyed yarns at the Ursula无毛视频檚 Alcove booth during the annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Fest. Listing, of Canonsburg, attended the festival for the first time this year.
Katherine Mansfield
Tools for knitting, along with a work in progress, is displayed by Knitting Notions at the annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival.
Fiber artists drank in colorful hand-dyed yarns, clacked knitting needles and leafed through quilting patterns during the annual Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival, held Aug. 25 through 27 at the Double Tree by Hilton in Green Tree.
For nearly two decades, the festival has brought professionals and enthusiasts from across the country to Pittsburgh to celebrate the fiber arts. This year is Laura Regan无毛视频檚 second running the event, after purchasing the fest from Barbara Grossman in 2020.
When the pandemic hit, Grossman decided to retire, after 17 years spearheading the festival. Regan, who for years served as a knit, crochet and indie dye vendor and teacher at the Creative Arts Fest, couldn无毛视频檛 let the festival taper off like a ball of yarn无毛视频檚 frizzy end.
无毛视频淭here are a lot of 无毛视频� sheep and wool fests in Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York. There was nothing in this area, and it无毛视频檚 a really huge crochet market,无毛视频� said Regan. 无毛视频淚 just didn无毛视频檛 want to see it leave. I just think our industry as a whole would have had a gap. I didn无毛视频檛 want the fiber community to miss out on having this festival.无毛视频�
The greater fiber arts community turned out en masse. Folks from as far as Kentucky and beyond, and as near as Canonsburg, set up shop and chatted with other vendors and attendees about their wares and experiences creating with yarn.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 expect this to be so 无毛视频� it无毛视频檚 amazing. Nirvana,无毛视频� said Linda Listing, who hand dyes yarn and creates works of art from her studio, Ursula无毛视频檚 Alcove, in Canonsburg.
Listing无毛视频檚 passion for fiber arts was sparked years ago, when she served as an assistant naturalist.
无毛视频淲e were teaching kids how to do natural dyes. I was like, I could do this,无毛视频� she said.
So she did. Though she无毛视频檚 been a fiber artist 无毛视频� hand dying yarn with natural ingredients like tarragon and lemon balm from her garden 无毛视频� for about 20 years, this was her first Creative Arts Fest.
无毛视频淚 just didn无毛视频檛 know this was here,无毛视频� she said, surveying the scene. 无毛视频淲eaving is my passion. I无毛视频檓 hoping to tempt people into some weaving.无毛视频�
Folks weaved in and out of the Yarns Bits and Bobs truck, a Pittsburgh-area yarn truck (think food trucks filled instead with soft skeins of colorful material) that made its festival debut alongside Yarnbyrds.
Fewer than 20 yarn trucks exist nationwide.
无毛视频淣orth of Pittsburgh, there isn无毛视频檛 anywhere to buy yarn,无毛视频� said YBB owner Julie Pasquarelli. 无毛视频淚 want to fill that need.无毛视频�
Yarns Bits and Bobs parks at various locations north of the Steel City, selling commercial fibers from the shop on wheels.
While festival-goers ogled wares outdoors, Keri Fosbrink stood inside, crocheting at her booth while folks browsed her display of yarns in varying degrees of softness.
无毛视频淚 do all the dying. Every skein that无毛视频檚 here with me is dyed by me. I无毛视频檓 a one-woman show,无毛视频� said Fosbrink, whose husband encouraged her to open Youghiogheny Yarns in Connellsville nearly seven years ago.
While Fosbrink无毛视频檚 business is a solo show, the artist enjoys hosting classes in her studio and connecting with other fiber enthusiasts at shows and festivals (this was her sixth time at the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Fest).
It无毛视频檚 无毛视频渢he people,无毛视频� Fosbrink said. 无毛视频淭he face-to-face interaction, being able to talk to them, discuss their projects.无毛视频�
Conversations 无毛视频� sharing stories and knowledge and patterns 无毛视频� is the thread that ties vendors, teachers and attendees together.
Tony Lipsey, a rising crochet star who earned her fiber arts crown when her first book, The Tunisian Crochet Handbook: A Beginner无毛视频檚 Guide, hit shelves in November 2021, graciously chatted, signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans.
无毛视频淚 learned from my mom back when I was a teen,无毛视频� said Lipsey, whose mother, Gwen Jones (无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 a proud mom,无毛视频� Jones smiled) attended the fest, too. 无毛视频淚n my early 20s I just needed a hobby. I picked crochet up again and never really stopped.无毛视频�
Lipsey founded TL Yarn Crafts in 2013, and her online classes, patterns and apparel grew. In 2017, the effervescent Lipsey left her day job for a career in crochet.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a great time to be a crafter,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淭he pandemic slowed us down. 2020 was a very exciting year to be a crocheter. It无毛视频檚 无毛视频� become a very creative process again.无毛视频�
Creativity abounded at the S.A.C.K. (Supporting A Community with Kindness) table, where the nonprofit无毛视频檚 founder Stacy Wiener knitted alongside festival volunteers and attendees.
S.A.C.K. donates soap, wrapped in hand-crocheted or knitted soap sacks, to local food pantries, homeless shelters, veterans clinics and other social service agencies. Since its establishment in 2017, Wiener estimates more than 250,000 soap sacks have been donated globally.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e all about dignity,无毛视频� said Wiener, noting food stamps do not cover the cost of toiletries. 无毛视频淭he need is there, regardless of where people are located. We have volunteers all over the world.无毛视频�
And the fiber arts exist the world over. Folks from different cities and states gathered in classrooms to expound upon their skills. Classes included everything from traditional knitting and crocheting to color theory, English paper piercing and wine glass painting.
无毛视频淲e have polymer clay, we have weaving, macrame,无毛视频� said Regan. 无毛视频淯sually an artist kind of puts their fingers in a little bit of everything. So this festival offers, from a class perspective, a lot more.无毛视频�
There无毛视频檚 a lot more to come, too. The next Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival is already scheduled for August 2023, at the same location.
Until then, vendors, teachers and fiber artists will be honing and expanding their crafts, and encourage anyone with a desire to 无毛视频渕ake无毛视频� to pick up some yarn and needles and start creating.